Orthodontic appliance



E. H. ANGLE ANDS. R. ATK|NSON.

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15. 1921.

1,398,7 1, Patented Nov. 29, 19.21.

EEFEE;

r FFicE.

EDWARD H. ANGLE, OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, AND SPENCER R. ATKINSON, OF

. ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

ORTHODONTIC APPLIAnoE,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD H. ANG E, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, and SPENCER R. ATKINSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Atlanta, in the county of Fulton, State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Or-. thodontic Appliances,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention is applicable to the art of correcting the position of malposed teeth of the dental arch, and particularly relates to that class of devices in which an archbar is adjustably supported atits opposite ends, and detachably connected intermediate of its ends with selected teeth of the dental arch, and is especially directed to the connection between the arch-bar and the terminal anchorages.

The principal objects of our invention are to provide means for connecting the archbar with the terminal anchorages, so constructed andarranged' as to facilitate the longitudinal adjustment of said arch-bar with respect to said anchorages.

Other objects of our invention are to provide improved terminal anchorages having means cooperative with means integral with said arch-bar, arranged to not'only prevent rotation of said arch bar in said anchorage, but to lock it in its longitudinally adjusted position with respect thereto.

Our invention comprehends such a curtailment of the necessary parts and consequent reduction of the space required to effect the desired firm attachment, that the teeth adjacent to the anchor teeth may as readily be attached to the arch-bar as any other of the intermediate teeth of the dental arch.

sheath, having a bore through which an'arch-,

bar may extend, and having a key-way ar- Specification. of Letters Patent. Pate ted N 29 1921 Application filed June 15,

1921. 1 Serial No. 477,824.

ranged to receive "a key or spline integral with said arch-bar and having a portion'extendlng freethereof, the end of said sheath affording an'abutment against which Said spline-may be turned or deflected and drawn tight to effect the adjustment of said archbar and to sltions.

lock it in different adjusted po- Our invention also includes all the various novel features of construction and arrangeage attachment applied thereto; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 2 applied. to said molar tooth; Fig. 1' is an enlarged transverse sectional view takenon the line d d in F ig; 2; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of one free end of the arch-bar having a key or spline integrally secured thereto; Fi .6; is'a fragmentary plan view showing a portion of an anchor-band provided with a modifiedform of an arch-bar sheath; Fig. 'Tis a fragmentary plan-view showing a fragment of the anchor-band, and another modification of the arch-bar sheath; Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional View of the structure shown inFig.

v "7, taken on the line 88 in said figure; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective View of one free end of an arch-bar having a spline formed in unitary relation therewith.

The tooth regulating appliance to which this invention is particularly applicable is indicatedin a general way in Fig. 1, and in- V eludes together with the associate parts an arch-bar 1, preferably consisting of a fiattened'wire having its intermediate portion arranged to be engaged with brackets 2, on suitably formed toothbands 3 on selected anterior teeth 4 of the dental arch, and its terminals engage with the anchor bands 5 on selected posterior teeth. 7

As shown in Fig. 1, the anchor bands 5 are 'attached to selected posterior or molar teeth 6 in a well known. manner, as clearly illustrated, and thearch-bar is connected therewith by having its ends each extended into a suitably formedsheath 7 on the respective anchor bands, which sheath as best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, has the bore 9. of suitable configuration to receive said archbar 1 slidably fitted therein.

The sheath 7 as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive is provided with the slot 10 opening into the bore-:9 and forming a key-way. for the key or spline 12 which is formed integrally with the arch-bar 1, being rigidly engaged therewith toward the end of said arch-bar, and having the portion extended toward the medial region of said arch-bar free to be moved relatively thereto as best shown in Fig. 5.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the'open portion of the slot 10 is. interrupted by the abutment 15 against which the spline 12 may. ,be drawn to effect the movement longitudinally of the arch-bar 1, and bent into close contact therewith to form the stop hook 16v arranged to retain said arch-bar 1 in. any adjusted position.

As shown in Fig. 5 the spline 12on the.

arch-bar 1 terminates at its connected end,

short of the end of the arch-bar 1, and affords an abutment against which the nose of a pair of pliers or other suitable implement may be engaged to force the arch-bar forward, it being understood, however, that said spline may extend to theend'of the arch-bar as is shown on the left'hand side of Fig. 1.

Theadvantage of stopping said spline 12 short of the end of the arch-bar is that it brings the end of the spline within the groove or slot in the sheath 7, so that when engaged as an'abutment by the end of the pliers or other suitable implement, the walls of the grooveor slot lO'afford-a guide which 7 r prevents said pliers or implement fromslip-.

pingoff the abutment laterally. Under ordinary conditions the use of the pliers or implement may be unnecessary and the for ward movement of the arch-bar 1, effected by simply drawing the spline tightly'over the abutment 15, which affords sufficient power to effect the required tension necessary to force the malposed teeth into'their proper relation to the perfect dental arch.

The structure shown in Fig. 6 differs from the structure shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 only in that the open portion of theslot corresponding to the slot 10 terminates short of both ends of the sheath 19 and is formed from a tubular sheath by making a crescent shaped cut 20,into its medial portion.

Although'the sheath shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3,

r and; 6 provide an openslot, it is obvious that the sheath may be tubular throughout sheath 21.

its entire extent, as shown in Fig. 7, wherein the anchor-band is provided with a tubular In this form of our'invention theiend. of the tubular sheath affords the abutment, overfwhich the spline 22 maybe drawn to effecta longitudinal adjustment of the arch-bar 28 and against which it may be bent laterally to form the stop hook 24 against said abutment.

In the form of our invention shown in. Fig. 9, the arch-bar 25 has its end portion reduced and, returned upon itself to form the spline 26 in unitary relation therewith,

which spline may be used with the same forceand effect as the spline which is sepa rately formed and secured to the arch-bar as shown in Fig. 5.

Our invention is advantageous in that longitudinal adjustment of the arch-bar may be conveniently effected by power. produced by pulling the spline over the end of the sheath, which 2 forms an abutment against which the power to force the arch-barv longitudinally is effected.

e do notdesire to limit our invention to;

the. precise details of constructionand arrangement. as herein set forth, as it isiobvious that various modifications-may be made therein without; departingfrom the essential features of our invention as defined in the appended. claims. 7

Havingthus described our invention, we claim: p 1

1. An orthodontic appliance comprising an anchorage device provided withan arch- 7 bar sheath having a bore for the arch-bar spline integrally carried by said arch-bar. 1

and a keyeway; for a 2. An orthodontic. appliance comprising gitudinal positions.

4. An orthodontic appliance comprising an anchorage device provldedwlth an arch bar sheath, having a longitudlnally extend- IOZO ios

ing bore and an open slot exten'ding parallel with said bore and terminating short of the end thereof.

5.. An orthodontic. appliance comprising an anchorage device provided with means for holding an arch-bar, and affording an abutment against whichthe free end ofa I longitudinally extending spline on said archbar may be turned toadjustably lock said 7 1.25 6. An orthodontic appliance comprising arch-bar in different positions.

anarch-barv having a spline integrally engaged therewith toward the end of' saidarch-bar, and having a free portion extended c In Witness whereof, we have hereunto set toward the medial portion of said arch-bar. our hands the 27th day of May, A. 1)., 1921 7. An orthodontic appliance comprising EDWARD H ANGLE an arch-bar having a-spline formed in unitary relation therewith and arranged to be SPENCER ATKINSON turned back against the body of said arch- Witnesses: I bar, said spline being of less Width than WILLIAM J. RUSSELL, the body of said arch-bar. CLIFTON C. HALLOWELL. 

